Watch the 2023 Saudi Tour live and free on SBS On Demand with nightly streaming from January 30 to February 3.
Only the one Australian will line up at the race, with most Aussie professionals either racing at the Cadel Evans Road Race or preparing for later goals in Europe. Alex Edmondson (Team DSM) will fly the flag in his debut for new squad Team DSM after seven years at Australian WorldTour team Greenedge.
Jesse Ewart and Mohd Harrif Saleh (both Terrengganu Polygon) will be familiar to Australian audiences as well, Ewart formerly an Australian registered rider with a history of being very good in Asian racing, and Saleh a legend of Malaysian cycling who has spent a lot of time racing and training in Australia.
It’s an important race for Edmondson as he looks to establish himself in his new squad. Team DSM bring a sprinter-focused team to the race, with John Degenkolb, Casper van Uden, Sean Flynn and Nils Eekhof all very quick.
It’s a race for riders to make names for themselves. Before winning the first two editions of the Saudi Tour, Phil Bauhaus (2020) and Maxim Van Gils (2022) did not yet have an overall stage race victory to their credit.
The other sensation of the 2022 edition, the Colombian Santiago Buitrago, kept a feeling of unfinished business. Winner of the second stage in Abu Rakah, the final victory had eluded him on echelons formed in the desert.
Since then, he raised his profile by winning stage 17 of the Giro d’Italia (12th on GC) then stage 1 of Vuelta a Burgos. He wants to take revenge on the Saudi Tour, so his team Bahrain Victorious has brought him again. He will be the hot favourite on the start line at AlUla International Airport on January 30.
The teams of the Arabic Gulf are particularly motivated by the idea of making a name for themselves in the region. Bahrain Victorious has also called up very fast men for the stages likely to arrive in a sprint: Jonathan Milan, Andrea Pasqualon, Dusan Rajovic and Heinrich Haussler. SBS viewers will be familiar with the prodigiously powerful Milan after his superb series of performances during the 2022 CRO Race, with Italian team pursuit gold medallist likely to be the man at the end of the sprint train for Bahrain Victorious.
Similarly, UAE Team Emirates is aiming for bunch sprint finishes with Pascal Ackermann and the general classification with Davide Formolo, supported by new recruit Felix Grossschartner.
Australia’s only WorldTour squad, now named Team Jayco-AlUla, has a heavy connection with the region, with the Saudi royal family-owned tourism agency for the region now a naming sponsor for the team. Jayco-AlUla returns in 2023 with Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen after he won two stages last year.
“We’ve got a couple of options with some younger guys for the general classification but the big focus is to build the sprint train around Groenewegen”, Team Jayco-AlUla’s sport manager Matt White explained. “Every race is important but obviously when your team’s sponsor hosts the event as well, it adds some motivation. We’re going there to win stages and showcase our sponsors in a good way.”
The youngsters in question are European U23 road champion Felix Engelhardt and former mountain biker Alexandre Balmer. Other young guns to watch out for include U23 world time trial champion Soren Wærenskjold (Uno-X) while the sprinters’ category includes Cees Bol (Astana Qazaqstan), Simone Consonni (Cofidis), Erlend Blikra (Uno-X), Matteo Malucelli (Bingoal WB) and Algeria’s Youcef Reguigui (Terengganu Polygon) who finished 4th in the 2020 Saudi Tour.
As part of the Asia Tour, the event also aims to provide access to the top level to the best squads of the continent, namely Terengganu Polygon from Malaysia and Team Ukyo from Japan, with the national Saudi Team rounding out the teams.
The 16 teams and main riders of the 3rd Saudi Tour, from January 30 to February 3rd:
Astana Qazaqstan Team (Cees Bol)
Bahrain Victorious (Santiago Buitrago, Andrea Pasqualon)
Cofidis (Rubén Fernandez, Simone Consonni)
Movistar Team (Ruben Guerreiro, Gregor Mühlberger)
Team Jayco AlUla (Dylan Groenewegen, Felix Engelhardt)
Team DSM (John Degenkolb, Casper van Uden)
UAE Team Emirates (Davide Formolo, Pascal Ackermann)
Bingoal WB (Matteo Malucelli)
Euskaltel-Euskadi (Xabier Mikel Asparren)
Human Powered Health (Gijs Van Hoecke, Pier-André Côté)
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team (Soren Wærenskjold, Erlend Blikra)
Q.36.5 Pro Cycling Team (Alessandro Fedeli, Jack Bauer)
Team Corratec (Etienne van Empel, Karel Vacek)
Terengganu Polygon (Youcef Reguigui, Jambaljamts Sainbayar)
Team Ukyo (Raymond Kreder, Benjamin Prades)
National team of Saudi Arabia
Watch the 2023 Saudi Tour live and free on SBS On Demand with nightly streaming from January 30 to February 3.
